It turns out that his hobby 9to5Mac.com blog was always his favorite and in 2011 he went full time adding his Fortune Google followers to 9to5Google.com and adding the commerce component 9to5Toys.com gear and deals site. In 2013, Weintraub bought one of the Tesla’s first Model S EVs off the assembly line and so began his love affair with the Electric Vehicle and green energy which is now electrek.co.

From 1997-2007, Weintraub was a Global IT director and Web Developer for a number of companies with stints at multimedia and branding agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Hong Kong, Madrid and London before becoming a publisher/blogger.

Seth recieved a bachelors degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California with a minor in Multimedia and Creative Technology in 1997. In 2004, he recieved a Masters from NYU’s Tisch School of the Art’s ITP program.

Hobbies: Weintraub is a licensed single engine private pilot, certified open water diver and spent over a year traveling to 60 cities in 23 countries. Whatever free time exists is now guaranteed to his lovely wife and two amazing sons.

Chris Lattner isn’t the only high profile Apple executive who departed for Tesla over the past month, rather than sticking around to work on Titan. 9to5mac has learned that Matt Casebolt, a high profile Senior Director of Design for Apple’s Mac lineup left the company last month for a role at Tesla as Sr. Director Engineering, Closures & Mechanisms. A job meant for a man named Casebolt … expand full story

In a new report out this morning from noted analyst Ming-Chi Quo at KGI Securities, we find the size of the new iPad form factor, expected in Q2 still in flux indicating that Apple may still be deciding between different sizes.

The new models will come in 12.9”, 10-10.5” and 9.7” versions. We note the 12.9” model will be the second generation of the existing 12.9” iPad Pro, the 10-10.5” model will be the high-end model equipped with a narrow bezel design, and the 9.7” model will be the low-priced option. The former two models will have an A10X chip manufactured by TSMC (2330 TT, NT$183.5, N), while the latter comes with an A9 chip made by Samsung LSI. Although we estimate iPad shipments in 2017 will drop again YoY to 35-37mn units, we except the decline to narrow to 10% from 2016’s roughly 20%, given that the 10-10.5” model may see more demand from commercial/ enterprises and tender markets, while the low-priced 9.7” model may have a greater shipment contribution and likely account for 50-60% of total shipments of new iPads.

Perhaps most interesting for AAPL stockholders is the psychological impact of iPad sales leveling off and greater ASP…

Sonny Dickson this evening posted posted a log and video of a never before seen in public version of pre-iPhone era software that was built as an alternative OS to what eventually became iOS.

The OS, which was devised in the iPod’s heyday, was based on a virtual click-wheel that was put on the touch display. A set of menus is navigated with the touch much like one would using an iPod of the time. In the era of multi-touch the idea seems quaint but when everyone is using iPods, the UI makes a lot of sense as a small step rather than the giant leap to iPhone OS, what eventually became iOS.

In a Friday evening release to Buzzfeed, Apple and Google spokespeople went on the record saying that the two tech behemoths would be opposed to helping build or contributing to any sort of ‘Muslim Registry’.

An Apple spokesperson said:

“We think people should be treated the same no matter how they worship, what they look like, who they love. We haven’t been asked and we would oppose such an effort.”

A spokesperson for Google said:

“In relation to the hypothetical of whether we would ever help build a ‘muslim registry’ – we haven’t been asked, of course we wouldn’t do this and we are glad – from all that we’ve read – that the proposal doesn’t seem to be on the table.”

The idea of a registry was put forward during President-elect Trump’s controversial campaign but like many the other ideas put forward (Like an Apple ban), it seems to be walked back as his term starts in a month. Amazon and Oracle troublingly declined to comment on a Muslim registry while Uber simply said “No”.

In our latest installment of Apple Campus 2 flyovers, we see that Apple is nearing completion for its 2017 opening. The main structures are almost complete from the outside and trees and fountains and other landscaping are going in. Drone video and high definition stills are below… expand full story

KGI‘s Ming-Chi Kuo is out with his latest iPhone sales numbers forecast which shows the iPhone 7 line falling in sales for the second consecutive year. The primary drivers are weak demand in China, slow shipment volume of 4.7” iPhones in 1Q17, and the lack of a new iPhone SE in 2Q17.

We are conservative about the sell-through of the 4.7” iPhone and Apple’s market share in China. As such, we estimate 1Q17 iPhone shipment volume of 40-50mn units, lower than the 51.2mn units in 1Q16.

Shipment volume in 2Q16 came in higher than expected thanks to upbeat demand for the iPhone SE. However, in order to keep gross margin at a high level and to avoid cannibalization of high-end models, we do not expect Apple to launch an upgraded iPhone SE in 2Q17. Without contribution from a new model, we forecast total iPhone shipment volume will reach 35-40mn units and fall YoY in 2Q17, lower than the 40.4mn units in 2Q16.

Falling sales may force Apple to exert pressure on its suppliers to reduce costs starting this month or next…

Japan’s Nikkei again reports on upcoming features for Apple’s next iPhone just a month after the launch of the iPhone 7. Three days ago, it reported that there would be 3 versions of the all glass-backed iPhone 8 line including a 5-inch screen model. Today the news organization is reporting that at least the biggest model will use a OLED and Sharp could be making some of those future OLED displays in the US. expand full story

As the US Presidential campaign for Hillary Clinton continues to reel from daily deluge of emails released from Campaign Chairman John Podesta via Wikileaks, we’re finding a number of topics related to Apple and specifically its CEO Tim Cook.

Today’s installment is probably worth noting. It has Cook listed as a possible VP candidate pick by Podesta along with many other political, business and tech luminaries seen below.

Over 100 million hours of videos are consumed daily on Facebook and now you can easily stream that video to the big screen via the hardware you probably already have. Facebook announced today that streaming from the web browser or iOS app via AirPlay to your Apple TV or Chromecast is now available. To watch a video from Facebook on your TV:

After a lot of abuse, my MacBook Pro’s 85W MagSafe 2 adapter finally died last week. Often Apple adapters fray at joints and this one did to an insane degree but somehow it kept working for 3 years through tons of travel, work and even some fun.

So what to do? Typically I’d buy a new Apple Magsafe 2 adapter. But clearly Apple has some redesigned MacBook/Pro/Airs coming later this month and they will likely be charged via USB-C, at least in some cases. So that means I only need MagSafe to power this 2013 MacBook Pro for at least a few more weeks before it gets relegated to backup machine, kid’s computer or sold off when I get Apple’s new OLED/USB-C creation.

The Apple community and the world lost Steve Jobs five years ago today. Enjoy some of the lighter yet interesting, behind the scenes sides of Apple’s co-founder and “Spirit and DNA” of the company in these never before seen in public clips that were passed to us a few years ago.

"Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." Remembering Steve and the many ways he changed our world. pic.twitter.com/ONAuEoq3uU

Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel announced a new set of ‘spectacles’ for the company’s hundreds of millions of young users, in a piece in the WSJ magazine this evening. Coming in at $129, these stereoscopic glasses will, at least initially, take 10 seconds of rounded video (Spiegel argues that the rectangle shape is inherited from the paper photo printing process) and store it wirelessly on your iPhone or Android device for easy sharing.

Now, I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around Snapchat (as it were), so these Spectacles certainly are head scratchers… expand full story

I’ve been using Apple’s extended wired keyboard for something like a decade – since it came out in 2007 – mostly because it feels the same as my MacBook Pro’s keys and it’s more reliable than Bluetooth – it just works for me.

Logitech makes some pretty good keyboards in their own right. I love their solar offerings for instance. But because the ol’ Apple extended is there and it feels like my MacBook’s keyboard, I usually end up going back to what I’m used to after trialling other keyboards.

Apple’s car plans appear to have hit yet another snag. Tonight the NYTimes is reporting that Apple is again rebooting the now infamous car project.

In a retrenchment of one of its most ambitious initiatives, Apple has shuttered parts of its self-driving car project and laid off dozens of employees, according to three people briefed on the move who were not allowed to speak about it publicly.

2016 has been an abysmal year for Apple’s car project if you believe the various reports from top news agencies. A timeline of Apple Car developments this year: expand full story